This application generally relates to providing temporal information to users via a user interface.
Modern life requires people to process and large quantities of information in many different formats. E-mails, text messages, Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, phone calls, voicemails, day planners, and various other mediums provide users with more information than ever. Existing interfaces for presenting this information are typically linear and also typically segregated by information type. For example, e-mail's are typically viewed in an e-mail application; text messages are typically viewed using a separate text feature; phone calls and voicemails are received utilizing yet another function. In most cases, these applications and functions also present information in a linear fashion. For example, e-mails, text messages and other similar messages organized according to a single dimension (e.g., time of receipt, sender, etc.). Day planners and other calendaring applications typically utilize a traditional calendar.
These segregated, linear presentations mechanisms, however, make it very difficult for users to effectively process information. For example, users may have to sift through tens or even hundreds of irrelevant e-mails to find e-mails to which the user should respond. Also, for example, users may be forced to scroll through junk text messages from advertisers in order to finding the text messages that the user considers interesting. Linear presentations are only capable of providing users with a single time indication (e.g., the time that a message or other piece of information arrived). Users are required to read e-mails or other messages to independently determine if the e-mail refers to a future date. Accordingly, there is a need for new information presentation methods.